We check into Herod's Boutique which, we were told, was an upgrade because the Leonardo was fully booked. As things turned out, it would take a lot of convincing to make the case that the Herod Boutique was better than the Leonardo.
We quickly freshen up and decide to walk the boardwalk along the Red Sea. I think I found the spot where Moses crossed.
This looks like it would be possible to get across with chariots chasing you. the rest of the Red Sea has tankers and other large vessels sailing on it.
There are some pretty spots for photo-ops as we walk along.
The fishing must be pretty good.
There is a lovely canal that empties into the sea.
Andrea and Ruth find an unexpected treat riding a blue camel. Well girls, that's your camel ride.
We head back to the hotel to change for dinner and then head down to the bar to talk about today's events. We find out that Lynn & Ed changed their room because of an ant infestation problem and have a few laughs over that. There are 2 servers working (and I use that term loosely) the bar. Andi and I wait patiently for a few minutes to be acknowledged (there are only 4 people at the bar including us). I clear my throat a few times and the bartender finally acknowledges our existence. I ask for a glass of Riesling but, apparently, the bartender doesn't understand and consults with the barmaid. I tell her I want Riesling and she says something to the bartender in Hebrew but all I get is a blank stare. I ask what kind of white wine he has and still don't get an intelligible response so i ask for a menu but it only had bottle prices. I now ask him to show me a bottle of white wine he sells by the glass and he hands me a bottle of RIESLING! I couldn't believe what I was looking at and pointed out the name to him so maybe he would know what to give the next patron who ordered this.
We bring our drinks over to the lounge area and join several others from our group where we continue to make jokes about ants in the rooms, fleas in the furniture and our adventure with the bartender. It's a good thing we were all in a good mood because after we adjourn to the restaurant, the bartender comes storming in demanding payment for some of the drinks. Apparently, some of our group had given the bartender their room numbers and expected the drinks to be put on the their tab. We already know how well the bartender understands English and how bright he was but he wasn't able to transfer a crucial piece of information to us. When you are part of a group at this hotel, you can't charge to the room so he was expecting to be paid for the drinks. The greeter at the restaurant said something that only made the situation worse, voices were raised, feelings were hurt and all over something so needless. It turned into an hour long melodrama with the Rabbi and Ronit trying to calm things down. Finally the hotel manager came over and apologized profusely but by then it was too little too late. During this same time frame, I asked one of the wait staff to add another table to ours so we could accommodate a few more people and that turned into a discussion of how to arrange the table. Then we asked for some ice for our drinks and the waitress brought over this 2 gallon bucket that looked ridiculous sitting on the table on the table.
When we asked for coffee and tea at the end of the meal, we were told we'd have to go downstairs to the lobby to get it. By this time, we were all shaking our heads in amazement, not believing that this hotel was a 5 star upgrade from the Leonardo chain where we stayed in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Give me Leonardo any day.
It's really unfortunate the evening turned out that way but tomorrow is another day and by then everyone was laughing about all of the craziness of the previous night.
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